Signal Integrity Journal

Just How Fast is GaN Fast?

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 00:00:00 -0400

Check out this description of what is likely the fastest GaN edge-speed ever recorded.

Why Full VRM Characterization is Essential

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

The voltage regulator module (VRM) contributes system level noise in several ways. Power integrity (PI) engineers tend to focus on transient voltage noise related to high-speed dynamic current. Many PI simulators ignore the VRM noise and use an ideal resistor and inductor model to represent the VRM. This overly simplistic approach misses many potential system level issues.

Making a Steamy, Hairy Golf Ball

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

My friend Steve Sandler pointed out a major hurdle we face in power distribution design: power engineers (who design power converters) and power integrity engineers (who design system bypassing-decoupling networks) use different vocabulary, techniques, and requirements. To understand a little better how we got here, I want to start with a prediction I heard sometime in the early 90s at one of the conference keynote speeches: “In 10 to 20 years, computers will look like hairy steamy golf balls.”

Power Electronics vs. Power Integrity

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 00:00:00 -0500

The power electronics engineer and the power integrity engineer share a common goal: provide the system with the correct voltages, currents, and noise characteristics to achieve the desired performance. Unfortunately, they do not share much else. They generally use different tools, vocabulary, and figures of merit. As a result, both sides lose.

The Perils of Right-angle Turns at DC

Fri, 01 Sep 2017 10:00:00 -0400

Microwave engineers know that sharp corners and right-angle bends have their drawback at high frequencies. So what happens if we go to the other extreme of the spectrum, to DC? Istvan Novak takes a closer look.

How Much Capacitance Do We Really Get?

Wed, 14 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400

We have to use enough capacitors so that the PDN functions properly. At the same time, to keep cost and size in check, we want to avoid overdesign and not use capacitors unnecessarily. Read on for advice on how to find the balance.

Book Review: Principles of Power Integrity for PDN Design—Simplified

Tue, 23 May 2017 16:25:00 -0400

If you are looking for a good book to help you understand PDN design, then this book is a good place to start. Here's a synopsis of what you can learn in this mammoth volume.

What Exactly is Power Integrity?

Thu, 18 May 2017 09:00:00 -0400

Larry Smith and I address this question in the preface to our new book. We found this question to be a little like the story of the five blind people and the elephant. They each are asked, what is an elephant? Depending on what part they were facing, imagined the elephant as that feature: a wall, a rope, a tree trunk, etc.

The Evergreen Question about PDN: Charge Delivery Time or Impedance

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 13:25:00 -0500

Here's how to find a balance between delivering and supplying enough charge to the load in a timely fashion versus achieving a required impedance target